Simon Harris denies asking Patrick O’Donovan to resign before minister fell ill
Ireland’s deputy prime minister confirmed speaking to O’Donovan during an October conference in Limerick but rejected claims that he asked the minister to leave Cabinet.
Simon Harris, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, confirmed on 28 October that he spoke by phone with Culture Minister Patrick O’Donovan during an EU presidency event in Limerick on 13 October, but denied asking him to resign before he became unwell. The account addresses speculation about what happened shortly before O’Donovan was taken to hospital, although the conversation itself was private.
Speaking to reporters on his first day back in government after paternity leave, Harris described the call as routine. Asked whether he had urged O’Donovan to consider his position, he replied ‘absolutely not’, according to TheJournal.ie. Harris said descriptions of their conversation were inaccurate, while declining to disclose its full content.
Harris rejects link between call and illness
Harris also rejected a suggestion that the call was connected to O’Donovan’s subsequent health episode or that he had told the minister his Cabinet position was untenable. The Irish Times reported Harris saying O’Donovan would give the same account. That is Harris’s account of a private conversation; the reports do not independently establish what was said or a cause for O’Donovan’s illness.
O’Donovan became unwell at an informal EU presidency meeting at the University of Limerick and was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick, TheJournal.ie reported. He had returned to work in September after an illness over the summer. The minister has spoken publicly about living with epilepsy and was hospitalised in Belgium in July, according to the outlet.
Earlier NewsJaws coverage described O’Donovan’s hospitalisation and officials covering his departmental duties. Harris’s remarks add his account of a phone call during the conference and his explicit denial that he sought O’Donovan’s resignation.
Anonymous briefing prompted a public statement
Harris said an anonymous briefing about O’Donovan in the Sunday Times had annoyed him and caused hurt. O’Donovan had described anonymous comments about his health in the previous weekend’s newspapers as hurtful, TheJournal.ie reported. Harris said he issued a statement supporting the minister while on paternity leave, after consulting his family, and that Fine Gael’s executive council had endorsed it. The identity of the person behind the briefing has not been established in the two reports.
Harris said he met O’Donovan and his family on Tuesday night and described him as doing well. He said he looked forward to welcoming O’Donovan back to work, calling him a close friend and colleague whom he had appointed to Cabinet twice, according to The Irish Times.
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Sources and context
- Simon Harris denies asking Patrick O'Donovan to resign in phone call earlier this monthTheJournal.ie (with reporting from PA; by Eoghan Dalton)
- Simon Harris denies asking Patrick O’Donovan to resign before Minister fell illThe Irish Times
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.